Jean Luc VAN DEN HEEDE is very discreet, but found it difficult to hide his emotion, as he brought Adrien alongside the Vendée Globe landing stage in Les Sables d'Olonne yesterday, to a rapturous welcome from supporters and the public.

In Les Sables d'Olonne, the naval tradition grows ever stronger. In the hearts of the local people, the four "Vendée Globe" events clearly set a precedent in terms of the enthusiasm and admiration they feel for yachtsmen. Jean Luc Van den HEEDE is now one of them. By smashing Philippe MONNET'S record by 29 days, VDH entered marine legend last Tuesday. The welcome that was given to him late today was that much more heartfelt, as a few years back the sailor from Amiens made Les Sables his home port.

Among the crowds that had gathered on the landing stages, his loyal partners waited with pride and eagerness. It must have taken a lot of courage and solid commitment for Jean Luc to set out on four occasions to attempt this challenge, and his three sponsors also showed unwavering trust, loyalty and support through all those years.

It was also a moving occasion for Michel ADRIEN, a stalwart supporter and former sailor himself. He could easily imagine the difficulties Jean-Luc must have encountered in order to achieve his performance. "If a record was well deserved, it was this one." was the essence of what he said, while breathing a sigh of relief. Alcan was pleased that Jean-Luc's boat had benefited from the latest Alcan/Pechiney aluminium technology. Its lightweight and resistant qualities allowed him to face the extreme conditions in the westbound circumnavigation.

The aluminium monohull had to be modified year after year to be up to the Global Challenge. As for his partners, they too evolved over the years. Thus, Pechiney became Alcan, the world leader in the manufacture and technological development of aluminium for marine use, and Adrien is nowadays called Michel ADRIEN, after the founder of the Group, who set off himself back in 1956 from Les Sables d'Olonne, at the helm of his fishing boat to head for Africa.

Gilles de ROBIEN offered his warm thanks to Jean Luc VAN DEN HEEDE for having raised so high and spread so far the colours of the Amiens metropolitan authority, and announced that he was pleased to be present for his arrival back in Les Sables. In the name of all the inhabitants of the 27 councils within the metropolitan area, monsieur Gilles DE ROBIEN and all the councillors of the Greater Amiens area sent Jean Luc VAN DEN HEEDE their most sincere congratulations and admiration.

Tom Burton (AUS) and Alison Young (GBR) hit the right note in the Laser and Laser Radial at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as they took out the top honours and qualification spots to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final.

It was double Australian gold in the Paralympic classes. Matt Bugg (AUS) came out on top in the 2.4mR whilst London 2012 Paralympic SKUD18 gold medallists Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) were triumphant in the two person keelboat.

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.

There was some fast paced action in the 49er and 49erFX Medal Races at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) and Maia & Ragna Agerup (NOR) claimed the honours and Abu Dhabi final spots.

A tight group of five young Papua New Guinean (PNG) Laser sailors are stepping up their 2015 Pacific Games competition program using this week's ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. PNG is one of 33 countries represented at the important Oceanic event, the largest Olympic sailing regatta in the southern hemisphere.

Melbourne, Australia will host the final Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification regatta in 2015. With just under one year until the event, the 2015 IFDS Worlds was launched at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne kick starts the journey to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with qualification spots and top ranking points available in the Australian city.

Four boats in the Volvo Ocean Race celebrated rounding the venerated landmark of Cape Horn on Monday, a pleasure cruelly denied Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) after the Chinese boat's mast was broken early in a dramatic day on Leg 5.

The wind played dirty tricks all day in Palma on the sailors and race committees who had to juggle with big shifts and different pressure. From 4 to 20 knots, and reaching 40 in some gusts, the wind turned around the bay playing with everybody's nerves.

Ghosting across the line in the inky blackness of a Mediterranean spring night, finally slicing through the finish line set on the very waters where some 40 odd years ago he cut his teeth as a young, aspiring sailor harbouring great dreams, at 01:47:00hrs local time Guillermo Altadill and his talented, ever reliable Chilean co-skipper Jose Muñoz secured second placed in this third edition of the Barcelona World Race, the round the world race for two crew which left the Catalan capital on December 31st 2014.

Algoa Bay brought lighter conditions on Sunday, and after a postponement waiting for the wind to settle, the race got underway in 7 knots of breeze from the south-east. Ted Conrads and Brian Haines from the USA were the pathfinders, and opened up the gate for the fleet as they sailed out to the right-hand side of the course.